Improvement in folding keys



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

JAMES BRADY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN FOLDING KEYS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 149,191, dated March 31, 1874; application filed March 3, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, JAMEs BRADY, of Brook= lyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented an Improved J ointed Shanked Key, of which the following is a speciiication :v

My invention relates to the construction of a key with its shank hinged or jointed so as to fold together. the combination, in a key having a jointed or folding spindle, of a spring attached to one portion ofthe spindle and operating transof the same.

The spindle or shank is composed of two pieces, B1 B2, which have their inner ends pivoted or riveted. together, so as to fold and lie with the bow b by the side of the bit b2. To

the part B1 is attached a at spring, O, one end being riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to the spindle, and the remaining portion bent in about a semicircular form, and passed through a slot, f, in the shank near the joint,

The invention consists in' so that when the key is folded the spring bears against the side of the part B2, but when the key is straightened out the semicircular portion of the spring passes entirely through the slot and engages with a notch, d, formed in the end of the part B2 beyond the joint, parallel with the axis or pivot of the joint, and holds the two parts rigidly, so that they cannot move in either direction. Thus the operation of the spring is transverse to the direction of the fold, and the joint is much more securely held than if the spring operated inthe direction of the fold.

When the key is to be folded, the spring is simply pressed down out of the notch d, when the parts are free to turn on the pivot e.

The jointed key thus constructed, while being as good as or better than other jointed keys, can be made at less expense.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination, in a key having a jointed A spindle, of a spring attached to 011e portion of the spindle and operating transversely to the direction `of the fold, anda notch in the end of the other portion of the spindle, substantially as shown and described.

JAMES BRADY. fitnesses HENRY T. BROWN, MICHAEL RYAN. 

